Test Old Laptop For Win10 Compatibility

Topic

New Reply

I have a laptop that is running Vista and I would like to find out if it could run Win10. I have seen a list of requirements and it includes a couple of items that I can’t answer. Is there a routine that will simply test for the required capabilities?

Thanks,
Bill

Reply | Quote

Replies

I have a laptop that is running Vista and I would like to find out if it could run Win10. I have seen a list of requirements and it includes a couple of items that I can’t answer. Is there a routine that will simply test for the required capabilities?

Thanks,
Bill

The base requirements for Win10 are similar to Vista, 1GHz CPU and 1GB RAM. Knowing more about the machine would be helpful, make, model name, model number, etc. The biggest thing I’ve seen was problems with the video adapter, needs new drivers. Another smaller issue is Win10 would most likely have to be a clean install, too many changes between it and Win7, Win8 and Win8.1. There was an Upgrade to Win7 available which with SP1 installed could then qualify for the free Win10, don’t know if still can be found.

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

Reply | Quote

You could check whether your laptop is listed here: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/is-your-oem-computer-ready-for-windows-10

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Reply | Quote

I have a really old Asus netbook that I have Windows 10 on. I just updated to the new th2, and it is running beautifully.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I’ve been following your replies from the beginning but I thought I would try something and then report but I haven’t had time to try anything yet. It may be a while!

Thanks,
Bill

Reply | Quote

I’ve forgotten where I posted it, but was able to persuade Win10 to install on an older ASUS Aspire 5552-3691. Had to update the drivers for mobility HD4250 to Catalyst 13.1 (driver only, may be lowest risk), before attempting the update, then changed a registry setting to get Win 10 to attempt the upgrade.

The upgrade generally went very well, accommodating a dogs-breakfast of apps. One unfortunate [problem] is that under Win7, there were drivers for a networked HP AiO printer w/ scanner. After upgrade to Win10, the Print Spooler refuses to start, apparently because there is a phantom ‘printer’ for that HP device. Have found No resolution — for others making such an attempt, would suggest complete uninstall of any networked printers, before attempting to upgrade to Win10.

Reply | Quote

Even if Win 10 is offered by Windows Update, it may fail to install. For example, freespace checking seems to be inadequate.

Got an ASUS X205TA w/ 32 GB SSD, for a single dedicated task. It came w/ Win 8.1, but kept asking to upgrade to Win10. Tried the download and apply at a later time option. Not clear whether it completely finished downloading, but to install Win10, it claimed to need another 57 GB. Must have been too difficult to check for sufficient freespace, before the upgrade attempted the goat-rope…

Reply | Quote

I think that the Windows 10 upgrade is only available for non-enterprise versions of Win7 and Win8.1. According to Microsoft, the free Win10 upgrade is not available for Vista users unless you buy a Win8.1 license first, upgrade to that, and then upgrade to Win10. That’s their official position. I’ve gotten around this on a couple of machines by upgrading to Win7 (and all 250 updates), and finally upgrading to Win10.

Don’t even think about doing this unless you have an image of the drive in your drawer, or a fresh clone on a separate drive. I prefer a separate drive, because it’s already bootable if things go to hell. You can always clone it back.

You may discover that drivers for your machine are not available and have to retrench. Had this happen with a client’s low-end Asus laptop and had to reinstall Vista the hard way. Also got burned trying to regress a Win8.1 HP laptop to Windows 7 (the client hated 8.1), only to discover that HP had no Win7 drivers. Just finished installing Win10 on this machine (without problems).

Lessons learned:

1. Clone or image first, and contain your optimism. Assume it’s going to fail, and you won’t be disappointed.
2. Get network drivers for the new O/S before you upgrade. I always forget this one. You can download any other drivers you need, but you gotta be able to connect once the deed is done.
3. Make sure your machine is squeaky clean and current before you upgrade. No disk errors, viruses, spyware, missing Windows files, windows permissions errors, yadda yadda.
4. Windows Repair Tool from tweaking.com has served me well, and heals a lot of problems (like registry permissions issues) you would never think to check.
5. Allow adequate time. It’s gonna take you all day.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the suggestions from several people since I last responded here. I’ll keep all that in mind if I do actually try to replace Vista with Win10.

Bill

Reply | Quote